The Shows

Shows in the current repertoire:

An Exmoor Garland. Devon's Northern moor was once a Royal Forest, and still supports a herd of wild red deer.  From histories like the Lynmouth flood disaster and hauling a lifeboat across the moor come a wealth of tales - valorous, humorous, beautiful and silly - which come together in this compilation of songs and stories.  Hear about  what happened when Christ’s spaceship landed on Holdstone Down, about smuggling, the miraculous Ram, the charter & pony fairs - all that makes this National Park special!

Songs of the West. The South Western counties of England - Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset - boast a massive heritage of traditional and modern songs, covering themes just as diverse as the landscapes and peoples who inhabit them.  Umber Music has created a presentation in concert format lasting, as required, between one hour and two hours with interval, which brings together some of the most beautiful, intriguing and amusing songs from this heritage. A true celebration of the West Country in all its many facets.

Short Sharp Shanties. An illustrated biography of the most famous nineteenth century shantyman - John Short of Watchet. The show covers his voyages, the development and uses of shanties and the vast growth on international trade, all within the context of the nineteenth century merchant marine.

Three Sea Captains. This anthology of rural songs, drawn from repertoires of three retired sea captains from Minehead and Watchet whose songs were collected by Cecil Sharp in the early years of the twentieth century.  A huge variety of songs, from traditional ballads to Victorian parlour pieces: variously historic, humorous, beautiful and vulgar - and many of which ended up on Tom & Barbara's Just Another Day CD.

and a summary of previous shows...

Ever since 1979, Tom & Barbara have been commissioned to produce a number of themed shows utilising traditional and specially written songs and music and the spoken word. Some shows have also included slide and film material.

Short Sharp Shanties (tour). A short series of performances which featured performances of some of John Short's Shanties as recorded on the CD series. The show also some elements of Short's biography and was performed by Doug Bailey,Tom & Barbara Brown, Keith Kendrick, Jackie Oates and Jeff Warner.

This Farming Life is a show which combines silent and sound film, songs and the spoken word.  At the instigation of Bill Grainger of Beaford Arts, Tom & Barbara worked with the South West Film and Television Archive to produce a show of two 50 min. halves combining and integrating the various media in an unusual and entertaining way.  From 1920s silent black & white film to modern songs such as Paul Wilson's Bampton Fair the show celebrated rural life in its many aspects. The show was performed over 100 times - from West Cornwall to The Black Isle - to enthusiastic reviews.

Seascape  is the title of two shows commissioned by the North Devon Maritime Museum. The shows record the history of North Devon's deep-sea and inshore trade and led to the making of the cassette tape `Over the Bar' which feature thirteen local singers and musicians. Working closely with the museum and maritime artist Mark Myers, the shows utilise slides of some of Mark's work and feature a short film of the building of the replica Mayflower in Appledore shipyard.

Down To The Sea In Ships, written in collaboration with singer/songwriter and former sub-mariner, Cyril Tawney, was commissioned by Plymouth City Council as part of their Drake 400 celebrations. The show recorded and illuminated Plymouth's long historic involvement at the heart of English Naval tradition. The show was performed by Tom & Barbara, Cyril Tawney and Francis Verdigi.

The Everlasting Circle was compiled and directed by Tom while he was Regional Development Officer/National Events Organiser for the English Folk Dance & Song Society. The Everlasting Circle toured 15 theatres around central and southern England as part of the Society's Silver Jubilee celebrations. With a cast of 24, the three-hour production displayed a wide range of England's song, music and dance traditions.

The Landsman's Progress  was commissioned by South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, and was first performed in the, then newly built, Wilde Theatre as part of the annual folk festival. The show brought together the acapella trio Regalia (Tom & Barbara and Charley Yarwood) and the instrumental trio Eric (Nigel Chippendale, Ralph Jordan and Colin Thompson) and traced the changing fortunes of the farm labourer, small farmer and landowner from Roman times to the mid-twentieth century, using song, music, spoken word and dual-projection techniques.

Fish `N' Ships was written for Broadstairs Folk Week and combined the talents of Tom & Barbara, Keith Kendrick and Barrie & Ingrid Temple. The show is concerned with inshore fishing and trade around the coast of England, from the Tyne (where Barrie & Ingrid live) down the east coast round Kent, along the south coast to Land's End and on up the coast past Ilfracombe (roughly where Tom & Barbara live) and the Severn, through the Irish Sea and up to Liverpool.

Inland England, was also commissioned by Broadstairs Folk Week and was thematically a new direction for the shows, focussing, as it does, on the idea of English Landscape. Using both traditional and contemporary songs the show evokes images of England's diverse landscapes from the fens to the mountains, from rural views to urban scenes. Dave Webber, Anni Fentiman and Keith Kendrick joined Tom & Barbara on this show, first performed in 2001.